BMW IX3 vs Range Rover Velar

What's the difference?

The BMW iX3 50 xDrive is a seriously quick electric SUV that earns points for its family practicality, while its impressive range could go a long way towards easing range anxiety. The ride isn’t always as settled as I’d like, but for the most part, this is a well-executed premium EV.

The Range Rover Velar P400e looks damn sexy and is large enough to house your family comfortably while still being easy to manoeuvre around town.

But I’m not a fan of these luxury brands forcing you to pay extra for what should be standard features when you’re at this grade level and price point. This is a model I’d pay close attention to in terms of the optional trims required to maintain a high-end feel.

But the powertrain works quite well here and it has pleasant on-road manners.

BMW has done a really good job with the iX3's styling. It’s distinctly futuristic without falling into that pillowy, blob-like look that some EVs have. The LED light signatures are gorgeous, although the illuminated kidney grille, from some angles, gives off bucktooth vibes. The rear indicators are also far too small.

The optioned 22-inch alloys are enormous and look fantastic, but are they worth the extra coin? Because in the EV world, size does matter and the larger the tyre, the bigger the hit to the driving range (in this case, roughly between 8-10 per cent).

Inside, BMW has avoided the same-same, slightly sterile feel of some EV cabins. There’s plenty of personality here, with the burgundy two-tone synthetic leather, stepped dashboard and seriously flashy displays bringing plenty of wow factor. The knitted accent panels across the dashboard add some welcomed warmth and texture to what could otherwise be a very tech-heavy cabin.

Land Rover hasn’t updated the exterior looks of the Velar and for good reason. It is almost flawless in how sleek and sexy it looks. It hovers between its larger Ranger Rover siblings and the more nimble-looking Discovery Sport.

There is still a distinctly ‘Range Rover’ vibe but it looks more agile and fun than its bigger siblings. But while its external looks are beautiful, the cabin loses me.

It’s even more pared back now than the pre-facelifted model and while the minimalistic style will appeal to some it doesn’t tick the luxury factor box for me.

There are too many plain and empty spaces in the dashboard and doors. The multimedia system has been updated to the cool 11.4-inch floating-effect screen but all the buttons and dials are gone. So, there’s even less going on and it makes you 100 per cent reliant on the screen.

And funnily enough, the grey knit fabric and synthetic material that’s used in the upholstery and trims is an optional extra and replaces Windsor leather. The knit-fabric adds some warmth but the black synthetic stuff is awful to touch or clean and reminds me too much of neoprene-style wetsuit material.

The large panoramic sunroof keeps the cabin feeling bright and cheery when it's open, though.

The front row is spacious, and the sport seats offer plenty of adjustment to get comfortable. The massage function is particularly good when you’re sitting in a school pick-up line or waiting for the car to charge. Access is also easy, thanks to the comfortable step-in and step-out height.

There are a few storage options up front, including a shelf underneath the centre console, a couple of cupholders and drink bottle holders in the doors. Both the centre console and glovebox are on the shallow side, but I love the dual phone holders and the way they’re angled so you can still see your phone screen when you need to.

Charging options are good, with a 12-volt socket, two USB-C ports and a ventilated wireless charging pad. A second charging pad for your co-pilot would have been nice, though.

The displays look a little overwhelming at first, but the panoramic display is surprisingly intuitive to use while driving. In fact, I found it made the 3D head-up display feel somewhat redundant. The multimedia system is highly customisable and easy to navigate once you’ve spent some time getting familiar with it. Wireless Apple CarPlay was also easy to connect, and Android Auto is available too.

The rear row is just as spacious as the front, with a flat floor that will make middle-seat passengers happy. There’s also enough width for three kids to sit comfortably. The seats are firm but supportive, and I like the height of the centre armrest.

Storage back here isn’t quite as generous, with two cupholders and door-bin storage essentially covering the options. The hard seat backs are easy to clean, though, and my son was a fan of the rear climate controls, directional air vents and two USB-C ports.

There are three top-tether anchor points and two ISOFIX child-seat mounts, while the 40/20/40-split rear seat adds some useful flexibility when you need to carry a mix of passengers and cargo.

The boot offers up to 520 litres of capacity with all seats in use, which is plenty for a big grocery haul or a road trip’s worth of luggage. There’s a handy netted pocket on the side and a hard cargo cover, although, unsurprisingly for an EV, you only get a tyre repair kit rather than a spare wheel. The powered tailgate is also a welcome convenience.

Rounding everything off is a 58L frunk which houses all the charging cables.

Practicality on a whole is pretty good in the Velar and that comes down mostly to the space provided for each occupant and the high-end tech.

Up front, there is a lot of head- and legroom for my 168cm height and even when you have a co-pilot you’re not jockeying for elbow room.

The seats are very comfortable as they’re well-cushioned and feature excellent lumbar support. I miss a seat heat function on colder days but you can easily do a long trip in the Velar and not feel too fatigued.

The 214mm ground clearance has made it an easy SUV to get in and out of, for me and my seven-year old. Annoyingly, though, some of the doors don't close properly unless you slam them.

The individual storage is a bit less than you might expect as there's not a lot of centre console storage for little items but you still get a small glove box and middle console, two cupholders, two drink bottle holders and a phone cubby up front.

The back seat offers enough space for me to be comfortable but I did have a comment from my dad, who is 183cm, that it was a smidge squishy for him.

The seats are comfortable and amenities are good with two USB-C ports, a 12-volt socket, directional air vents, map pockets and a fold-down armrest with two cupholders. There are storage bins but they're very shallow.

Because of the sleek rear shaping, the boot space is smaller than most of its rivals at 625L when all seats are in use. It’s large enough for my gear and you should still be able to stack luggage easily for a road trip.

The technology on offer is pretty darn good. The multimedia system takes a while to get used to but once you do, it's an easy enough system to get around but not having any buttons/dials means you tend to look at it more than I like while on the go.

Unlike the Disco Sport I was just in, which features the same system, there have been no issues with connectivity with my iPhone with the Bluetooth or wireless Apple CarPlay. There’s also Android Auto and the built-in satellite navigation is top-notch.

I've already mentioned the rear charging options but up front you're spoiled for choice with a USB-A port, three USB-C ports and a wireless charging pad.

The Velar is offered in three variants with a choice of four powertrains spread between them. The model I'm testing is the plug-in hybrid mid-level HSE Dynamic in P400e form, which sits right behind the flagship Autobiography.

The P400e is priced from $143,508, before on-road costs, and sits close to the middle of the pack compared to its rivals.

The Volvo XC90 Recharge Ultimate PHEV comes in as the most affordable at $128,990 MSRP, then the BMW X5 xDrive50e M Sport PHEV at $149,900 MSRP.

Even with our model's optioned extras, the Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid PHEV sits a country-mile above them all at $178,300 MSRP (thus it's a 'stretch').

Our test model has a few optioned extras, including a 'Dynamic Handling Pack' for $1750, a black contrast roof ($1420), ash veneer trim ($930), rear privacy glass ($890), 21-inch diamond turned alloys ($780), non-leather premium steering wheel ($750), black synthetic leather upholstery ($700), cabin lighting ($540), rear seat remote levers ($300) and 'Terrain Response' ($430).

That all equates to an extra $8490 and brings the total before on-roads costs price tag to $151,565.

Standard technology features that are included are an 11.4-inch touchscreen multimedia system, 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, built-in satellite navigation, wireless connectivity for Apple CarPlay, wired Android Auto, Amazon Alexa app, dual-zone climate control, a wireless charging pad, five USB-C ports, one USB-A port, two 12-volt sockets and a Meridian sound system with digital radio.

Other features include pixel LED headlights, panoramic sunroof, keyless-entry, push-button start, rear fog lights, powered front seats, run-flat tyres, a powered boot lid and a tyre pressure monitoring system.

Annoyingly, a lot of luxury features have to be added at additional cost and given the price tag it's odd there are no heat or ventilation functions for the seats, no heat function for the steering wheel, no climate control for the rear or even a head-up display.

So, it feels a bit bare on features once you start to compare the Velar to some of its rivals, like the well-specified and more affordable Volvo.

The new BMW iX3 is built on an 800-volt platform and features a dual-motor all-wheel-drive set-up producing up to 345kW of power and 645Nm of torque. It can sprint from 0-100km/h in just 4.9 seconds, so in a nutshell, it’s pretty darn powerful and fast.

It might not be segment-leading when it comes to outright performance, but there’s certainly no shortage of grunt for a family SUV.

The Range Rover Velar P400e's plug-in hybrid powertrain combines a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine with an electric motor to deliver 297kW of power and 640Nm of torque.

The Velar features an eight-speed auto transmission and is an AWD. With that optioned Terrain Response feature, it can do some mild off-road adventuring or tackle a trip to the ski-fields with relative ease.

The iX3 has a massive 108.7kWh lithium-ion NCM battery and a WLTP driving range of up to 805km. With the optional 22-inch alloys, that range does take a hit in our test vehicle, dropping to around 740km, which is still very good.

With my average consumption sitting at 15.5kWh/100km, I’ve actually beaten the claimed energy consumption of 18.8kWh/100km. That’s after a mix of highway and urban driving throughout the week, which is seriously impressive for a large, powerful electric SUV.

The iX3 has a Type 2/CCS charging port and can accept up to 22kW on an AC charger and a hefty 400kW on a fast DC charger. Finding a charger capable of delivering that much power will be the real challenge, but if you do, BMW claims a 10-80 per cent charge in just 21 minutes. That’s excellent charging performance and makes longer road trips considerably easier.

However, it does lose marks for missing out on vehicle-to-load (V2L) functionality. BMW Australia says the iX3 is equipped with the hardware for V2L, but the company is waiting on approvals for the required accessories before it can be rolled out to Australian versions. In other words, it's coming soon.

The official combined fuel-cycle consumption figure is 2.2L/100km and my real-world usage came out at 6.0L/100km after doing mostly open-road trips with some urban stuff thrown in.

I have charged it to full twice with a few (small) charging moments scattered in between as that’s been realistic for life this week. 

Claimed pure electric driving range is 69km but expect closer to 50km in the real-world. 

Based on my real-world consumption and the 69L fuel tank, expect a theoretical driving range of 1150km.

The only draw back with a PHEV is the charging element as you get the best economy if you charge it to full every time you drive, and that's not always realistic!

The P400e has a Type 2 CCS charging port, so you can hook it up to a fast charger. On a 50kW system you can go from 0-80 per cent in 30 minutes and on a 7.0kW system, you can go from 0-100 per cent in two-hours and 12-minutes.

On a standard domestic socket, expect to leave on overnight for a 0-100 per cent fill.

Land Rover recommends a minimum 95 RON premium unleaded petrol for the Velar.

The iX3 50 has plenty of power and torque to satisfy when you need to plant it on a hill or overtake. Power is delivered smoothly in Efficient mode, but it definitely feels more dynamic when you switch to Sport.

The suspension is nicely balanced around town and through corners, but occasionally the car feels a little unsettled on an uneven open road. This is where you start to wonder whether those big tyres are doing the car any favours.

The steering is lighter than expected, although you do get used to it after a couple of days. The car can also feel heavy when you need to stop quickly, to the point where the brakes can feel a smidge spongey. Otherwise, they’re responsive enough.

The cabin is impressively quiet around town, although road noise, again, likely helped along by those big tyres, creeps in a little more on the open road. To be clear, it’s only more noticeable by EV standards; this is still a quiet car compared with a combustion-powered SUV.

Visibility is quite good from my driving position, and I like the commanding view overall. SUVs do rule the roost in this regard. There are four regenerative braking levels, including B mode for one-pedal driving, and I’ve kept it on either level three or B throughout the week.

I also like that you can still creep at lower speeds in B mode, and the 360-degree camera is exceptionally clear. The way the camera view moves with the steering wheel takes a beat to get used to, though. If you're a little unsure, you can activate the parking assist function, and the car will park itself.

The P400e has a deep well of power to dip into and fantastic pick up when you need to overtake or get up to speed.

Like other plug-in hybrids I’ve sampled from Land Rover there's a little lag sometimes when you accelerate from a full stop but it’s not as pronounced in this model as others. 

The back brakes seem to hold a couple seconds longer than they should and if you accelerate as you would in any other car, there is a ker-clunk sound and you shift forward in your seat until they release.

This was most noticeable in stop-start city traffic and to be fair might just be a quirk on our test car and not on the model as a whole.

The switch between the electric and petrol components is mostly smooth and the cabin is refined because it’s so quiet. Pretty much no external noise makes its way inside.

I did a trip with my father-in-law this week and he said riding in the back seat was smooth, comfortable and very quiet. In fact, he fell asleep not long after we left! A high compliment, indeed.

The wide windows and higher ride have ensure excellent visibility but you only get a reversing camera. Yes, it’s great quality and clear but a 360-degree view system should come standard on a large SUV like this, especially considering its price tag. That being said, the P400e is still pretty easy to park.

The plug-in hybrid variant is not rated with ANCAP yet but features a good number of safety features, like blind-spot monitoring, driver attention alert, tyre pressure monitoring, rear collision warning, forward collision warning, AEB, DRLs, rear cross-traffic alert, lane keeping aid, traffic sign recognition, intelligent seatbelt warning, adaptive cruise control, reversing camera, as well as front and rear parking sensors.

It does miss out on lane departure warning and only has six airbags, which is low for a large SUV but all of the other safety tech seems well-tuned and not intrusive on everyday driving.

For any families, the Velar has ISOFIX mounts on the rear outboard seats plus three top tethers. You might get three seats installed if they’re not too big but two will fit best.

The iX3 is covered by a five-year/200,000km warranty, which is a fairly typical term at this end of the market. You can also pre-purchase a six-year servicing plan for $2420, which is a reasonable cost for a vehicle in this price bracket.

Maintenance is governed by BMW’s Condition Based Servicing system, so the car will tell you when it’s time to head in for a service. Depending on how you drive it, expect servicing to be required somewhere between 12 and 24 months.

The Range Rover Velar comes with a five-year/unlimited km warranty and the battery is covered by an eight-year/ 160,000km warranty, which is a usual term for the class now.

There is a five-year capped-price servicing program which costs a flat $2100, or $420 per service, and is more affordable than a pay-as-you-go option.

Servicing intervals are very reasonable at every 12 months or 20,400km, whichever occurs first.

You also get five years roadside assistance through Assist Australia as a part of your servicing plan.